Wings of healing and protection -- Part 1

In our modern society, wings are associated with freedom and movement. Spreading your wings is an idiom relating to independence. This is very different from how ancient Israel used the symbolism. They used wings as symbol of healing and protection. The Hebrew word for wings is kanaph. This can also mean extremity or edge and is associated with a garment. I will get to that soon. 

Wings of healing and protection

First a few examples showing the symbolic meaning of wings in the Old Testament.

3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings (Hebr. kanaph). (Psalm 61)

 

Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings (Hebr. kanaph) will I rejoice. (Psalm 63:7)

 

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings (Hebr. kanaph) shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. (Psalm 91)

When "trust" is used in Psalm 61 and 91 in the KJV, the underlying Hebrew is more commonly translated into "seek refuge". Refuge and protection is what we find under the wings of God. This does not mean that the Israelites believed that God was a winged being. They were more interested in his attributes than physical appearance and often used metaphors to describe them. Another well-known example is Malachi 4:2

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings (Hebr. kanaph); and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

This is an expression that Nephi uses too and that probably originates with the prophet Zenos.

Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. (2 Nephi 25:13)

These examples demonstrate that the symbolism of wings is understood differently by ancient Israelites than modern Westerners. The symbolic meaning has to do with healing and protection more than independence and freedom. With that established, let us move on to some other interesting aspects of this symbol. 

The wings of the garment

As mentioned, the Hebrew 'kanaph' means both wings and extremity and edge and can refer to the borders of a garment. Somehow the wings of God were the edges of his garments that covered the Psalmist and the righteous. 

Lord Wilmore wrote two posts about the instruction for Israel to put fringes in the borders of their garments. (See here and here). Let's have another look at the verse giving this instruction.

Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders (Hebr. kanaph) of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders (Hebr. kanaph) a ribband of blue: (Numbers 15:38)

The fringes and ribband of blue were reminders of God's commandments and linked to heaven, blooming and eternal life, as Lord Wilmore explains in his posts. The use of kanaph here adds another dimension. The fringes on the kanaph would mean that the reminder of God's commandments protected the Israelite from the consequences of following the lust of their own hearts and eyes. There is a clear covenant connotation here that I will get back to in the next part. First there are two more examples of the connection between wings and garments that I want to discuss. 

In 1 Samuel 24 there is a story where king Saul seeks David's life out of jealousy. As he eases himself in a cave, he is unaware of David sneaking up behind him and cutting off the kanaph of his garment. This is to demonstrate that even though Saul seeks his life, David does not want to harm him even when he had the chance. David later calls out to Saul, showing him the kanaph as a witness to his determination not to harm the king. Still, David feels terrible about what he has done, indicating that there is significance to the cutting of the kanaph. Metaphorically, David is clipping Saul's wings. I am not sure if this would be understood as Saul losing his protection or losing his ability as king to offer protection, but I am inclined to believe the latter. The NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible explains:

In acceding to the people’s demand for a king, Yahweh did not relinquish his rights as Great King over his inheritance to the human monarch. Rather, the human king was to be Yahweh’s vice-regent and was to subordinate himself within an authority structure that Yahweh himself would stipulate

With this context it is easy to imagine the king's garment with its "wings" as an earthly representation of Yahwehs protective garment/wings. The kings were not just to rule but to offer the people protection as part of their jurisdiction. David stripped Saul of this authority in a humiliating gesture and felt bad about it afterwards.

5 And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt (Hebr. kanaph).

6 And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. (1 Samuel 24)

Shortly after this event, David wrote Psalm 57. Consider the subheading to this psalm and the first verse

To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.

1 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings (Hebr. kanaph) will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

He had just cut Saul's kanaph and is troubled by the trial resulting from a king who seeks his life, but finds refuge in the kanaph of God. As Yahweh's vice-regent, this king was supposed to offer such protection but had utterly failed to do. Fortunately, the kanaph of God never fails.

Over to the final example of this part. But there is much more to say about this topic so I will write more in my next post. This is from the Book of Ruth, that I find absolutely beautiful. Ruth shows great faith, diligence and care and loyalty to her mother-in-law. This is noticed by Boaz who treats her kindly and praises her.

11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings (Hebr. kanaph) thou art come to trust. (Ruth 2)

Again, the KJV uses "trust" where most other translations would use "seek refuge". As a foreigner from a different land with different gods, Ruth has come in under the protection of Yahwehs wings. Since Boaz is the next of kin (technically there was someone even nearer but he declined), it is his responsibility to "redeem" Ruth. (See this post about the role of the kinsman-redeemer). This is what Ruth appeals to in the next chapter.

8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.

9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt (Hebr. kanaph) over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. (Ruth 3)

When kanaph is translated into words as diverse as wings, skirt and borders it is difficult to immediately see this connection that exists in the Hebrew Bible. Here it seems that Ruth is referring to Boaz' statement from the chapter before. In his role as redeemer, Boaz is to emulate God in offering protection by covering her with his "wings". The garment of Boaz symbolize the wings of God and is an act of redemption and protection. We don't really see protection as the primary need of a young widow in a modern Western society, but in ancient Israel, a widow who was much more vulnerable and protection essential. This story of a widow being redeemed is also about a foreigner who is gathered into the fold of a covenant people and offered the protection that comes with that. This is a topic I will explore further in the next part.

The Angel Moroni uses the Bible to summarize the purposes of the Restoration -- Part 1

I'm currently studying the purposes of the restoration. In this post, I pointed out the symbolism of the the Feast of Trumpets and the latter-day restoration.

Today I noticed something as I studied Joseph Smith's account of the visit of the Angel Moroni in 1823 -- the scriptures quoted by Moroni neatly summarize the most important points of the restoration.  This should come as no surprise, but I find it to be very interesting, because Moroni conveys the message he needs Joseph to understand using words familiar to Joseph -- the King James Bible (with a few variations).

In this post and the next one, I'll lay out precisely what Moroni said and how it summarizes the purposes of the restoration.

What are the purposes of the Restoration?

I've thought a lot about this in light of this statement from President Nelson:

One question we've wrestled with is how to take the gospel in its simple purity and the ordinances with their eternal efficacy to all of God's children without having basketball hoops get in the way.

The "simple purity" of the gospel is a concept I've thought a lot about.  It certainly involves restored doctrines, but above all it reduces down to faith, repentance, baptism, the endowment, and the sealing ordinance, as well as the priesthood by which ordinances can be performed. Everything else, it seems, is an appendage.

Notice then, as we go through the verses quoted by Moroni during his 1823 visit to Joseph Smith, how often the concept of sacred ordinances and the priesthood are mentioned.

Malachi 3

First, Moroni quoted "the first part of the third chapter of Malachi." I don't think he makes it clear exactly how many verses were quoted, so I included the first 7:

1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.
6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
7 ¶ Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Malachi 4 (variant)

Next, he quoted Malachi 4 with some changes, as noted below, and references to the temple and the priesthood in bold:

1 For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 ¶ But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 ¶ Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

5 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

6 And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.

Isaiah 11

After Malachi, the angel quotes Isaiah chapter 11. For the sake of brevity, I'll note a few verses here which I believe to be most pertinent to the purposes of the restoration:

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
...
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
...
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
10 ¶ And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, ...
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
...

In these verses, I see numerous references to the temple, and of course in verses 11-12 we have one of the clearest statements of God's intention to gather Israel in the latter days. The Book of Mormon is the instrument designed by God to accomplish that feat.

Summary

The purposes of the restoration are all about the Priesthood, the saving ordinances, and by extension the temple.  Moroni knew this of course, even if young Joseph did not, and taught him using words he knew well enough to recognize.  This shows us three important truths:

1) All of the prophecies of the prophets will surely come to pass. (This also happens to be a major theme in the Book of Mormon.)

2) The restoration of the gospel, the re-establishment of the everlasting covenant, and the gathering of Israel in the last days were promised to Israel through prophets before the scattering of the ten tribes around 2700 years ago. God remembers His promises. (This is also a major theme of the Book of Mormon.)

3) God desires to teach us His ways, but He will do so according to our own understanding.  For Joseph Smith, that understanding centered on the King James Bible, thus Moroni used that as his guide in teaching the boy prophet.

In part 2, we'll review the rest of Moroni's words to Joseph Smith.

Zenos as a common source for Malachi and Nephi?

This is copied from a long post I wrote on Reddit a while back. I thought it would fit here. Besides, this gives good background for other notes about Zenos that I will be posting this week.

There are a few passages in 1st and 2nd Nephi that seem to quote or paraphrase Malachi. Since Malachi lived after Nephi, this is a problem that critics like to point out. However, 3rd Nephi makes it clear that the Book of Mormon authors did not have the words of Malachi until Christ appeared. In 3rd Nephi 23:6, the Savior tells the Nephites that he will give them scriptures that they don’t have. In 3rd Nephi 24:1, he commands them to write the words of Malachi, “which he should tell unto them”.

If Joseph Smith were the author of the Book of Mormon, it is evident that he knew the Nephites could not have the words of Malachi because he lived after Lehi left Jerusalem.

Another relevant fact is that most scholars agree that 3rd Nephi was dictated before 1st and 2nd Nephi. That is, the Book of Mormon displays the knowledge of the Nephites not having access to Malachi’s words before those quotes in 1st and 2nd Nephi. Even to a non-believer, that should be a bit puzzling. Did Joseph Smith know that Malachi was written after 600 B.C. and then just forget a few weeks later? I think that seems very strange. But Malachi is never mentioned by name in 1st or 2nd Nephi. Did he quote or paraphrase him without mentioning him and hope nobody would notice? I also think that seems very strange. 

What about believers? For them, there are two common explanations. The first is that Nephi is not quoting or paraphrasing Malachi at all, they both just tend to use some of the same words and expressions. I am not quite sure what I think of that. Personally, I believe that the English translation of the Book of Mormon is given directly by God, but in a way that resembles familiar scriptural (i.e. KJV Bible) terms and phrases. So perhaps Jeff Lindsay is right. But I still feel that the texts are sufficiently similar to display some relationship.

The other explanation is that the Book of Mormon translation was Joseph Smith only getting ideas revealed to him that he needed to phrase in his own language, and he happened to be familiar with those passages in Malachi. I’m not going into details about that now, but I am not a big fan of this theory due to research on the Book of Mormon language, which does not seem to come from Joseph Smith at all.

I don’t think any of these explanations are completely satisfactory. That’s life sometimes. We want reasonable answers but we don’t get them.

However, a closer study of the passages in 1st and 2nd Nephi that resemble Malachi, has led me to an interesting observation: Every passage seems to be linked to the prophet, Zenos!

Let’s first look at Malachi. Chapter 4, verses 1 and 2:

For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up. But unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.

Colored phrases are the ones which have an exact or close match in certain 1st and 2nd Nephi passages. These are 1st Nephi 22:15, 1st Nephi 22:23-24, 2nd Nephi 25:10 and 2nd Nephi 26:4,6,9.

1st Nephi 22:15 reads like this:

…for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned.

1st Nephi 22, last part of verse 23 and first part of verse 24, read like this:

they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet. And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall.

We observe many similarities with Malachi 4:1-2. But to put this in context, let us back up three chapters. In 1st Nephi 19:10-17, Nephi is quoting Zenos, but he often refers to him as “the prophet”. Then he goes on to quote Isaiah in chapters 20 and 21. In chapter 22, he comments on what he just quoted from Isaiah. He also keeps paraphrasing Isaiah as he comments in verses 1-14. Then from verse 15, he quotes “the prophet” several times. These quotes are not found in Isaiah. But since verse 15 and some of verses 23-24 resemble Malachi 4:1-2, many people think that this unnamed prophet is Malachi.

There are several problems with this interpretation, however. As explained before, the Book of Mormon text makes it clear that the Nephites didn’t have the words of Malachi. Also, when Nephi continues to quote “the prophet” from verse 15, there are quotes which are neither from Isaiah nor Malachi. For instance, in verse 17: “thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.” This wording is not found anywhere in the Old Testament.

But what about Zenos? Since we don’t have his writings (other than what Book of Mormon prophets quote) we would not recognize if he was quoted. Also, we know he was quoted 3 chapters earlier before Nephi started quoting Isaiah and he was referred to several times as “the prophet”. It makes sense that when Nephi starts quoting “the prophet” again and we know it is not Isaiah, he is really going back to Zenos. It seems that Zenos was highly regarded on the brass plates. Except for Isaiah, he is the prophet quoted the most in the Book of Mormon. Notice in 3rd Nephi 10:16 how Zenos is “the prophet” and Zenock is… just Zenock.

It gets even more interesting when we consider the other “Malachi” quotes in the Book of Mormon. In 2nd Nephi 25:13, we read:

Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings;…

“with healing is his wings” is again a unique phrase in Malachi 4:2. But what is also unique is the notion of Christ in a sepulchre (the other colored phrase), which is not mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament and only one other place in the Book of Mormon: In 1st Nephi 19:10 where Nephi is quoting Zenos!

be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death

Again, there seems to be a relation between Zenos and an apparent Malachi quote.

Finally, the last passage with wording that resembles Malachi 4:1-2 is found in 2nd Nephi 26, verse 4, the end of verse 6 and beginning of verse 9:

Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble… they shall be as stubble, and the day that cometh shall consume them, saith the Lord of Hosts. But the Son of Righteousness shall appear unto them; and he shall heal them

Interestingly, this passage can be tied to Zenos too. The part between verse 4 and the end of verse 6 as quoted above, reads:

And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. And they shall be visited with thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquakes, and all manner of destructions, for the fire of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them, and they shall be as stubble…

Notice the similarities between this and the Zenos quote in 1st Nephi 19:11

For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.

And all these things must surely come, saith the prophet Zenos…

It may seem that Nephi is paraphrasing Zenos in 2nd Nephi 26:5-6 where he also seems to be paraphrasing Malachi. For further evidence that this is "Zenos-language", see this previous post.

So what is going on here? Why can all the passages from 1st and 2nd Nephi, which use Malachi 4:1-2 language, be connected to Zenos? To me the answer is getting more and more obvious: Nephi is really quoting and paraphrasing Zenos and so is Malachi. If Malachi 4:1-2 borrows from Zenos, this all makes sense.

1. This is something we know prophets did, even Old Testament prophets borrowing from each other. (See e.g. Isaiah 2:2-3 and Micah 4:1-2)
2. The impossibility of the brass plates 600 B.C. quoting Malachi 400 B.C. is no longer an issue
3. It explains why all “Malachi-like” quotes in the Book of Mormon can be tied to Zenos
4. Zenos seems to have been an important prophet on the brass plates and it would make sense that he is “the prophet”, rather than Malachi, especially since we know he is referred to as such several times in the Book of Mormon